Shingles is More Common Than Previously Thought, Says Study

Recurrences of shingles is more common than doctors have suspected, a new study has found.

Recurrences of shingles is more common than doctors have suspected, a new study has found. Shingles is a condition that causes a specific type of skin rash and severe pain.

The study has challenged the long-held belief that patients are protected from a recurrence of the herpes zoster virus, which causes shingles, after one episode.

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In ‘Shingles’ or ‘Herpes Zoster’ painful skin rashes appear usually on the side of chest wall. It is caused by chicken pox virus called varicella zoster.

Rather the study has found that the recurrences of shingles may be significantly more common than doctors have suspected.

"It's been thought that recurrences were limited to people with compromised immune systems, for instance from chemotherapy or bloodborne malignancies, but this is not the case," said lead author Barbara Yawn of research at Olmsted Medical Center in Rochester.

The research team examined medical records, dating from 1996 to 2001, of nearly 1,700 patients over age 22 who had a documented episode of shingles.

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They then searched area medical records to determine whether those patients had been treated for a second episode at any point, following them up to 12 years (the average follow-up was eight years).

The data showed the recurrence rate was over five percent, the same rate an age-matched cohort would be expected to experience a first case of shingles. Some patients had experienced as many as three recurrences.

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The study found that women, who are more likely than men to have shingles, also were more likely to experience a recurrence of the disease.

Although the team had suspected that recurrence rates would be higher in older patients, age did not appear to make individuals more susceptible to another round of the disease.

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Instead, researchers found the most striking determinant for recurrence was patients' pain during the initial episode. Those who had experienced pain lasting more than 30 days after the initial onset of shingles were more likely to face a recurrence, particularly in the first three to four years after the initial episode. This, too, surprised the research team.

"We'd thought that suffering a worse case would possibly give patients more resistance to a second occurrence, but our data presented the exact opposite," said Yawn.

The results suggest that the herpes zoster vaccine, which is known to reduce first-time occurrences of shingles by 50 percent, may help patients avoid a second episode.

"Until now, we haven't been able to tell patients their risks of getting zoster a second time. This study offers another piece of information for patients and doctors who are discussing the likelihood of recurrence and considering a prevention strategy," added Yawn.

The findings have been published in the in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Source-ANI